LOL...Cak, you are the one that said it's a rarity now....
Saying it's a rarity now indicates that you didn't think it used to be.
QFT, but I'll play anyway.
First rounders have never sat. Oh, I'm sure someone will come up with an example, so whatever, but the trend has not been for first rounders to sit and develop. But teams used to have guys sitting that they'd develop behind the starter. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn't, but there used to be a higher percentage of QBs drafted in later rounds that sat and developed for a couple years. They'd get some mop-up time or maybe start a few games if the starter went down, and then later in their career, they'd turn into decent starters, sometimes very good. Even the guys that started early often saw limited spot duty in their rookie year.
Circumstances vary, but I can think of Steve Young, Brad Johnson, Jeff Hostetler, Stan Humphries, Elvis Grbac, and Lynn Dickey. I'm sure if I looked far enough into it, I could come up with some more. A few of these guys were drafted really late, but some were drafted in the 3rd-ish rounds. Coaches worked with them in the hopes that they'd develop and some of them did. Now teams spend a ton on their starter and don't bother too much to develop a later round guy. It happens, but it's not
as common as it used to be.
Maybe it wasn't exactly common back then, but as the game has increasingly put skirts on the QBs and the paychecks have risen at the position, teams put a much lower emphasis on ensuring there's a real viable option at backup. The Colts are the extreme example - hell, they had exactly no one behind Peyton Manning for years.
